Fictions of Purity:Puritans, “Native” Americans, and “American” Identity

Nancy Lusignan Schultz, Ph.D.

Pioneer Institute, July 31, 2015

Hogan’s Heroes (1965-1971)

Protestant Reformation

Which are the true “Native Americans” ?

Flag of the “Native American” Party

“Morse Code”: Catholics are the

“enemy” . -. . -- -.--

“They will see that Popery is now, what it has ever been, a system of the darkest political intrigue and despotism, cloaking itself to avoid attack under the sacred name of religion."--"Brutus" (Samuel F. B. Morse)

Lyman Beecher, 1775-1863

Free-Thinkers Pictorial Textbook, 1890

The burning of the Charlestown convent as depicted in An Account of the Conflagration of the Ursuline Convent

Philadelphia “Bible Riots” 1844

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826

A cartoon from the 1850s by the "Know-Nothings" accusing the Irish and German immigrants of negatively affecting an election.

Ireland

1820-29 1830-39 1840-49 1850-59

51,617 170,672 656,145 1,029,486

Germany

1820-29 1830-39 1840-49 1850-59

5,753 124,726 385,434 976,072

2013 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_yb_2013_0.pdf

“Only public education can undo the work of the Catholic families and parish schools and.”

Secretive American political faction that flourished briefly in the 1850s as a result of "nativist" (anti-Catholic and immigrant) concerns. Courtesy of Library of Congress

distress Five points of fellowship

Pass grip

Real grip

Satiric cartoon by David Claypoole Johnston

The Washington Monumentwas under construction from 1848-1884.

1963

Conclusions